From Ms Rachel to Roc Nation, the internet embraced a Florida toddler. Police records reviewed by the Guardian complicate the story – and raise troubling questions

There is real tragedy in this week’s story of the three-year-old Florida boy whose parents claimed he was so good at soccer that police were called to do what opposing defenders couldn’t. But it doesn’t lie where the outrage cycle wants you to think. It’s broader, implicates more people, and to me, is far more depressing.

You may have seen the video by now. Here was a toddler with fabulous soccer talent, running end-to-end and scoring goal after goal against opponents who have seemingly just found their feet. The cameraman, later identified as the child’s father, loudly and proudly cheers his son on. Way to go, kid.

The Orlando City product scored his first goal in La Liga, playing three positions in a comeback win over Valencia

While most of La Liga’s oxygen was consumed by the first el clásico since José Mourinho’s return to Real Madrid this weekend, another rivalry put Alex Freeman in the spotlight position.

Or quite a few positions, as it turned out.

• Concacaf approves exceptional hosting arrangement

• Haiti to face US at Nu Stadium on 14 November

• Miami’s Haitian community offers home advantage

Concacaf on Thursday announced it has approved Haiti’s request to relocate their Nations League quarter-final first leg against the United States on 14 November from Kingston, Jamaica, to Miami in an “exceptional hosting arrangement”. Haiti have been unable to play nominal “home” games within their borders since July 2021, with the United Nations estimating that 90% of the capital of Port-au-Prince – including the national stadium – is controlled by violent gangs.

Haiti’s match, the first leg of a home-and-away series against the US, had been booked for Kingston. The Grenadiers played their 2026 World Cup qualifiers in Curaçao, Aruba and Barbados. However, the Nations League format slated Curaçao and Jamaica to host their matches on the same night as Haiti’s, shunting Haiti to Sabina Park, the home of the Jamaica national team until their current venue opened in 1962. Now a cricket ground, Sabina Park hosted two of Haiti’s Nations League qualifiers.

• Title is club’s first-ever since 2023 founding

• St Louis clubs have won 11 Open Cups all-time

• Daniel Edelman nets winner in 5-4 win on penalties

For much of the 20th century, winning the US Open Cup required a team to beat someone from St Louis. The Gateway City was home to many of the nation’s best teams during some ramshackle eras of soccer in the United States, with six different clubs combining for 10 trophy lifts. The most recent came in 1988, when St Louis Busch Seniors beat San Francisco-based Greek-American AC in the last throes of a tournament history dominated by amateur and semi-pro teams. MLS has won every Open Cup but one since starting play in 1996, and St Louis didn’t have an MLS club until 2023.

From the beginning, club figures spoke of their aim to restore the city to soccer prominence. Well, mission accomplished. St Louis City are US Open Cup champions, outlasting the Columbus Crew 5-4 on penalties to end the city’s 38-year wait for a major US soccer title and earn a place in the field for the 2027 Concacaf Champions Cup.

A goal against PSG is proof on the scoresheet of what can be seen on the teamsheet: at long last, Reyna is getting consistent minutes

For an entire four-year cycle, to write about Gio Reyna was to write about his potential – especially the nagging feeling that it was going unfulfilled. Once hyped as possibly the greatest prospect in US men’s history, a series of injuries kept him from simply taking the field, much less making his mark on it.

Since his emergent 2020-21 season, when he logged nearly 2,000 Bundesliga minutes running alongside Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham, and Jadon Sancho, Reyna finished each of the ensuing five seasons without even cresting 630 league minutes. “Rotational” became a generous descriptor for his role at Nottingham Forest on loan, and then last season with Borussia Mönchengladbach. Still, Gregg Berhalter and Mauricio Pochettino kept involving Reyna with the US squad based on that pesky potential – betting that, on his day, he still had the raw talent to do what few compatriots could.